This invention relates to filtering apparatus, and more particularly, to filtering apparatus for filtering fluids such as water and air under pressure for use in snow making apparatus.
Many different devices have been devised and used for “artificially” producing snow or for producing “man-made” snow. Such devices are utilized at ski resorts to supplement the supply of natural snow on ski trails or in the form of smaller apparatus for home use. Whether the snow making apparatus is situated at ground level or atop a support tower, they are generally referred to as “snow guns” in the industry and they all typically produce snow by projecting a mixture of air and water under pressure in the form of a fine atomized spray into the surrounding sub-freezing ambient atmosphere. The snow guns are of basically two types, one wherein the air and water are internally mixed before spraying into the ambient atmosphere and a second wherein the air and water are externally mixed in the ambient atmosphere such that water spray droplets are projected into a stream of cold air under pressure for atomization of the water spray. A combination of external and internal mixing is also in use. The present invention relates to fluid filtering for snow making apparatus or snow guns which utilize either internal, external or combined mixing techniques.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a filtering system for such snow making apparatus which will provide a self cleaning filter for filtering out dirt and other debris from air and/or water supplied under pressure through supply lines and hoses feeding such snow guns. If particles are larger than the diameter of the discharge apertures for the water and/or air nozzles, then the nozzles will become plugged and the snow gun is rendered ineffective.
When snow guns are not in use during the off season, insects, dirt and other debris find their way into the detached open hoses which normally connect the snow gun to water and air supplies during the winter season. It is therefore desirable to continuously filter this debris and also provide a filtering system which is effectual and inexpensive and which is also self-cleaning.